Mosaics I: Mosaic as a Decorative Technique

Course Section # 3502fa1 Fall 2008

Mondays 6:30PM – 9:30PM (Sept 15 to Nov 24, 2008)

Instructor Gordana Zivkovic www.ualberta.ca/~zivkovic

e-mail: gzivkovi@ualberta.ca

Prerequisites: No prerequisites. This is an 'Open Studies' course. Anyone with the interest to study can register, irrespective of previous educational experience.

Description: From Niki de Saint-Phalle's fantastic sculptures all the way back to the splendor of Byzantine Basilicas, mosaic has been an art form particularly well suited to monumental and public art, both sacral and secular. This class will start with direct methods on flat surfaces and progress to the basics of the inverse method with marble and smalti with the aim of introducing basic techniques through a series of small-scale projects. Primary activity will be actual studio work complemented by short lectures and slide presentations.

Assessment: Certificate students are either given credit (CR) or incomplete (IN)

Non-certificate students are either audit (AU) or incomplete (IN). Assessment will be made on the basis of attendance and course projects completed.

Suggested readings:

Angelo Cangemi. 2001. Making Mosaics: Materials-Tools-Techniques. Mosaico Arte ed Artigianato, Antonina Parisi Publisher (available through www.dimosaico.com or directly from Italy)

Joseph L. Young. 1963. Mosaics: Principles and Practice. Reinhold.

Isotta Fiorentini Roncussi and Elisabetta Fiorentini. 2002. Mosaic: Materials, Techniques and History. MWeV Editions. (available through www.dimosaico.com or directly from Italy)

Roger Ling. 1998. Ancient Mosaics. Princeton University Press.

Sonia King. 2002. Mosaic: Techniques & Traditions. Sterling Publishing.

You can buy some of the books, but I recommend that you wait until the first class and see all the books that I will bring in, so you will have a better idea what you will need. My books will stay in the class throughout the course.

Course materials:

Smalties, stones, glass, vitreous glass, ceramic tiles, pebbles, china scrap, shells, marble scrap, mesh backing sheet, wooden board, Welbond glue, wallpaper glue, silk paper, scissors, knife cutter, Kerabond (MAPEI), Keralastic (MAPEI), grout, plastic sheets, palette knives, rubber gloves, protective glasses, yoghurt cups, pencil, marker, cheap brush, tarlatan, old rags, sponge, masking tape, tile cutters, glass cutters, hammer for cutting stone, hardie, log, Portland cement, sand, armature, wire for hangers, scrap wooden boards for framing mosaics for casting, regular hammer, bucket for mixing cement, tool for mixing cement, measuring tool for cement and sand.

*Always wear glasses for your protection and gloves when you are using cement, mortar and grout

SCHEDULE

Week I - DIRECT METHOD

Introduction

Familiarization with tools, materials, and techniques

Starting on the 1st project - max letter size, direct method on the board with varied materials (marble, glass, broken china, metal pieces, etc.)

Some materials will be provided. Students can also bring their own material - scrap china, shells, stones, marble, glass, whatever you would like to use for your first project. A lot of these things you can find in Dollar stores. Also bring, yoghurt cups. I will show you in class the materials that we will use in the next classes and you can then buy more, depending on your projects.

Inspiration for this project could be found in the work of Niki de Saint-Phalle at following sites:

www.nikidesaintphalle.com

http://www.gallerydelaive.com/

http://www.nikidesaintphalle.com/cardmenu.html

http://www.thejoyofshards.co.uk/tuscan/index.shtml

http://www.nikidesaintphalle.de/

http://karaart.com/saint.phalle/

www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/saint-phalle_niki_de.html

http://karaart.com/saint.phalle/

Niki de Saint Phalle

Weeks II & III - DIRECT METHOD

We will start the 2nd project, in direct method, using Welbond glue with glass or ceramics. You can buy mirrors at IKEA or wooden boxes, terracotta pots for flowers (for inside) etc. I will show you the grouting method at the end of your project.

Glass tiles, ceramic tiles and some of interesting materials for your mosaic project you can order from Erin at www.oddlyenoughmosaics.com or you can go to her place in person (I recommend the latter). Her address is 10450-144 St (side door). Her home phone number is (780) 463-5113.

We will use: board, glass or ceramic tiles, Weldbond glue and grout. Important: glass or ceramic for this kind of mosaic has to be of same thickness. This makes the grouting process possible.

Before class look at: http://www.mosaicartsource.com/mosaicart/mosaic_art_resource/mosaic_glossary.html#o (look under opus)

Bring: Weldbond glue, board or surface that you would like to work on, ceramic tiles or glass tiles, broken ceramic or material that you want to use for your mosaic piece, palette knife, yoghurt cups, grout (you can buy it at Erin’s place), pencil, sponge, and if you already have an idea for your project bring the drawing that you will develop into a mosaic piece.

Note: Order your material for the last project (we’ll start it in Week VII) well in advance. If you are ordering stones from www.diMosaico.com it will take time to arrive. If you know some stone cutters here where you can buy or get some scrap marble for free you are welcome to do it. (Black marble is very hard to break so take some small pieces). At www.dimosaico.com you have measures for how many stones you will need for a particular surface size. Count that you will have around 20% loss on it.

INSPIRATION:

http://www.mayang.com/textures/Stone/html/Paving%20Stones/index.html

http://www.mayang.com/textures/Stone/html/Stone%20Walls/index.html

http://www.centroaletti.com/alettiref.htm

http://www.mosaicartsource.com/mosaicart/mosaic_art_resource/mosaic_glossary.html#o look under opus)

http://mosaicartsource.wordpress.com/2007/01/10/smalti-mosaic-gold-edmonton-alberta-canada/

http://www.mosaicartsource.com/mosaic_supply_canada/mosaic_supply_shop/shoppinginfo/about_mas.html

http://www.orsoni.com/default.asp?pc=006000000000002

http://www.mosaictilesupplies.com/installation.html

http://www.scuolamosaicistifriuli.it/en/gallery/default.asp?c=4&d=10&dt=ARAN

http://www.mosaicartsource.com/mosaicart/mosaic_art_gallery/mosaic_gallery.html

http://mosaik.wordpress.com/tag/mosaics-around-the-world/central-southern-and-east-asia/japan/

http://www.littleironies.co.uk/publicart.htm

http://mosaik.wordpress.com/tag/public-art/

Weeks IV & V - DIRECT METHOD on the plastic mesh

Grouting the 2nd project and starting on the new, 3rd project - direct method on a plastic mesh (pebbles, ceramics, glass, tesserae). Find some geometric drawing, ornament or arabesque (maze is very interesting as geometric form). Make a copy the size of your project. If you want to install it in the class you can use boards, step stones etc.

We will use: plastic mesh, plastic sheet under plastic mesh, liquid nail glue or some kind of glue can be used for outside projects (look in Rona or Home Depot and ask for the kind of glue for outside projects based on the material that you are using; some kinds of glue don’t apply both to ceramic and glass), and depending on material you use for this kind of mosaic it can be: without any kind of grout, or with grout. If you want to make a project that is for inside then you need just Welbond glue and sand grout at the end. If you want to make grout in some special color that we haven’t in the class you can buy it in the small packs at Erin’s place.

Plastic mesh you can buy at Erin’s place too.

Important: glass or ceramic for this kind of mosaic has to be of same thickness. This makes grouting process possible.

*almost all direct methods are on the surface irregular – they don’t give you flat surface – you can avoid that with negative/inverse method on tarlatan and direct casting.

Usually we use plastic mesh with this method to cast directly on the place where you want to have it, but we can cast it also in the class. You will be able then to install it like a mosaic piece wherever you want.

Method for casting this kind of mosaic directly outside on the floor or on the wall is by using kerabond and keralastic (mixture) as a base and pressing mosaic directly with a special plastic tool. You can grout your mosaic with sanded grout - this kind of grout has to be for outside use because of low temperatures.

Tesserae will be very hard to grout, because of cleaning, but it is not impossible. If you grout it, use sawdust and cloth to remove the rest of the grout.

direct method on plastic mesh - tesserae

inverse/indirect method on tarlatan cloth

Week VI

Installation and grouting of the 3rd project and starting on a new, inverse method. You have to bring scrap stones or ready broken stones (if you bought it from www.dimosaico.com). I will show you how to break stones and make tesserae. If you want to explore direct method for outside project with stones and smalties mounted on a Hexlite boards you are welcome to do it (you can also use DensShield Tile Guard backer boards obtainable from Rona). You have to make a sketch of a project that you want to do, count how much material you will need and order it all from www.diMosaico.com. This kind of mosaic will be very light (compared to mosaic in inverse technique that we will cover in next classes) and suitable for mounting outside on the wall (even on a wooden wall).

Weeks VII, VIII & IX

Draw your portrait. Linear drawing on a letter paper size - use brush and ink (if you don't know how to draw, you can apply Photoshop effects such as “Artistic” or “Brush stroke” filters to a photo of your face). We will do black and white portrait with stones (tesserae)

You will need: a piece of tarlatan or silk paper, pencil, nippers, hardie & log, hammer, stones, wallpaper glue, a cheap brush, and plastic containers.

If you want to do something else than portrait, or if you are more experienced, you can look at Roman mosaics to find some simple floral or animal design as a motif. Try to use an uncomplicated motif in just a few colors, this will help you to finish your mosaic piece in time to be cast.

Starting project.

*For indirect method on paper and tarlatan we will use wallpaper glue. This kind of glue is a powder that you have to mix with water. After casting mosaic it will be possible to easily remove it just with water.

Week X - casting inverse method mosaic

Overview and conclusion. Consider that you have to come the day after and wash the mosaics. If it is cold in the room it might take longer time to dry.

INVERSE CASTING

1. making and setting wood frame and armature

2. wire for hanging

3. two layers of mortar made by mixing Portland cement and sand

a) first layer – to cover tesserae 1:1 (Portland cement 1, and sand/children playing sand)

b) second layer – to cover armature 1:2 (Portland cement, sand)

4. tap on the bottom of the table

5. during the day – watering the cast mosaic

6. 20-24h after casting mosaic, turning it over, washing it with wire and plastic brush

7. washing it with dish soap

8. drying

9. after few days (7 or 10) you can install it as a permanent piece wherever you wish - on the floor or on the wall.You can also apply protection for marble – some kind of acrylic liquid or some special wax protection (see at Rona) - you can choose glossy or mat finish.

Proces:

Supplies in Edmonton you can find at Erin's place. You can buy them online at

www.oddlyenoughmosaics.com

or contact Erin directly and go to her store (what I recommend). Her home phone number is (780) 463-5113, and her address is 10450-144 St (side door)

Other recommended suppliers: www.dimosaico.com

Some material you can find in RONA or Home Depot & Dollar store

MOSAIC ARTIST ASSOCIATIONS

http://www.mosaicartcanada.org/home.html

http://www.americanmosaics.org/

Policy about course outlines can be found in Section 23.4(2) of the University Calendar (GFC 29 SEP 2003).

The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty.

Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behaviour (online at www.ualberta.ca/secretariat/appeals.htm) and avoid any behaviour which could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University." (GFC 29 SEP 2003)